In the Gospels, the Virgin ... Crucifixion, two of Jesus' followers — seemingly St. John and St. Paul, though, like so much else in this novella, their identities are left ambiguous — visit Mary.

Mary can't be an elderly barren woman: instead she's a young girl who's also a virgin. There were lots of stories of miraculous births in Greco ... grief. John's gospel refers to the crucifixion ...